From October 24-27, 2022, the Urban Resilience and Land Team for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in collaboration with the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Team of the World Bank, jointly with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, organized a series of virtual knowledge-exchange events targeting Moroccan public and private stakeholders.
Funded by the Japan Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries and the World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of Morocco, this series has allowed Moroccan stakeholders to interact with international experts on how to design, implement and scale up priority interventions to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure services against disaster shocks.
The following themes were covered over the course of the event: (i) Strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and services: the importance of a systemic approach; (ii) Policy instruments to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure and services; (iii) Risk financing mechanisms for critical infrastructure, public assets, and essential services; (iv)Infrastructure systems and risk analysis tools for informed decision-making.
To that end, on October 27th, Japanese expert, Yusa Satoru from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) spoke during the Critical Infrastructure Information-Sharing Platform event. He highlighted SIP4D, a shared information platform for disaster response. Specifically, SIP4D’s goal is to build a common situational awareness of the disaster situation between various disaster response organizations and disseminate relevant information.
In collaboration with the World Bank, Morocco has made resilience of critical infrastructure and continuity of essential services a national priority. In particular, two programs highlight this commitment – (i) n° 9 - “Strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure” and (ii) n° 14 - “Development and implementation of continuity plans for vital services”—are featured prominently in the National Strategy for Natural Disaster Risk Management (SNGRCN) 2021-2031.
It is in this context of analytical, technical, and operational work, the World Bank and the Japan Program will continue to provide technical assistance to the Government of Morocco to help define its overall vision and strategic approach to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure and ensure the continuity of vital services.